Rafael Picon of Rockledge works in clay on a statue of Juan Ponce de Leon, which will be erected in Melbourne Beach.

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R. NORMAN MOODY
FLORIDA TODAY

Now, locals want to honor him by naming the island where they believe he first landed in the state as Juan Ponce de Leon Island, ahead of the commemoration of the 500th anniversary of that discovery April 2, 1513.

"He is actually the first European to set foot on the continental United States, right here in Melbourne Beach," said historian Frank Thomas, a resident of Melbourne Beach. ...